Joseph Gonzalez

Can you share what you and your CALL Artist were able to accomplish through the CALL program?
During my time in the CALL program I worked in Jaime Davidovich’s studio. I set up an area in his studio to take photos of his artwork. After I took the photos I sent them to the Legacy Specialist, Alison, and she used the photos to set up an inventory system given to us by the CALL program for sorting the digital files of his artwork. After documenting and putting the artwork in the database, the Legacy Specialist and I would pack the artwork, then put it in storage that Jamie rented.

Can you give us a sense of how the CALL experience may have influenced you and your work as an artist?
I have learned how important documenting your work is. As my dream of becoming a toy designer has come true, I need to be organized and keep track of my work when working for a company, and in my own personal work. Seeing Jaime’s work, he always signed and dated his work: that is something I should have been doing with my own work. This inspired me to be cautious in how I keep my work safe by signing and dating it. I also learned to always backup my work because anything can happen, and now I have a couple of backups where I keep my work in case anything did happen.

What has been the most rewarding aspect of this work?
What was most rewarding was seeing Jaime’s work from over the years and his processes in creating it. Being able to have his work documented and put safely in storage is a great feeling for Jaime, and me as well.

What has been most difficult?
There is nothing that I saw as difficult during my time in Jaime’s studio. Alison and I had a plan we came up with in the first 2 weeks of the CALL program and we created a something like an assembly line where I was in charge of photos and packing the artwork. Then I gave the photos to Alison so she could put it into the database. Then we would have a day where we take all the documented and packed work to storage.

What do you recommend to anyone assisting an artist in the career documentation process?
The CALL program is a great rewarding learning experience so I would recommend that you ask questions and while you’re working, to observe and look at the artwork because you never know how you could be inspired by what you see. Finally, when learning to document artwork, you might want to see how you can apply it to your own work because it can help you a great deal one day.